Before the Beginning
by Birdflame
Summary: In a time before the Great Beasts, the Spirits ruled Erdas. (One-shot prequel to The One with Spots.)


**If you read** The One With Spots, **you might want to read this.**

**None of this is canon. I only own my OCs.**

* * *

I watched the wind ruffle the forest far down below, my tail tip twitching ever so slightly at the scene. It was a fine summer day. The sun beat down, hot on my short, thick fur. In the distance I could hear the buzzing noises of humans as they hurried about their only settlement in Amaya, Concorba, but none of the dared to invade my domain.

"I'm the king of the forest! No one will dare challenge me!" The play-snarl brought my attention back to the two little cubs in my charge: Uraza and Cabaro. They were my half-sister's cubs. I was a jaguar, Lihita was a leopard like her daughter, and her mate was a lion like her son. Unfortunately, Lihita wasn't a Spirit like me and had died before the two were full-grown, so I took them in.

"Well, I'm the queen, and the queen is more powerful." Uraza retorted, her beautiful violet eyes blazing happily. "Auntie Braca says so." The little leopard bared her tiny teeth and pounced, knocking her brother over. The lion pushed himself away . . . and went tumbling over the edge. I caught him before he could plummet to his death and dragged him back over. Uraza bounded over. Are you alright, Cabaro?"

I licked his ears. "You need to be more careful here. It isn't like Nilo."

Cabaro glanced back at me. "Could we go back to Nilo? It feels more like home there." Uraza nodded furiously.

I looked from one eager face to the other, then sighed. "I can take you there in a week when the new moon has arrived. Until then, you'll have to make do with Amaya." They squealed with joy and ran off, disappearing into the lush greenness. I turned back toward the cliff, my heart heavy. It wasn't that I didn't like Nilo, although I admit that I preferred my forest. It was just that Nilo's grasslands brought back painful memories. Just thinking about it did.

I jumped off the cliff's edge, gracefully landing on the soft grass at the bottom. Nearby a river flowed and not too far from the opposite bank was a caiman, a crocodilian creature that was one of the top things on my hunting list. I dove I to the river, the splashing of the current covering the sound of my own, and swam noiselessly across. When my paws touched the pebbles, I slowly pulled myself out of it, pelt dripping. My quarry was too busy basking to bother keeping a wary eye out on predators. I placed each paw carefully in front of the other. Closer, closer, now! With a loud snarl, I jumped.

The caiman thrashed around wildly, trying to get away from my teeth. I dragged it back and pierced its skull with my fangs, slaughtering it instantly without pain. I walked through the rushing water again and climbed up the Cliffside as easily as if it were a tree. Being twice the size of a normal jaguar, it didn't take much effort on my part. The caiman dangled simply from my jaws before I put it down and yowled, "Uraza, Cabaro, time for your meal! Tonight is caiman."

The young lion and leopard tumbled out from the foliage. Uraza came over immediately and began chowing down while Cabaro was mos hesitant. He sniffed the food, complaining, "It's too wet."

"Well if you'd rather not eat I'm sure your sister would be glad to have your share."

"I never said that." Cabaro said haughtily. I simply said it was wet." He took a big bite from the food, making exaggerated faces. I purred and started eating it as well. When it was completely gone, I realized the sun was going down. "You two go back to the thunder tree grove. It's time for me to bring the moon up." As the Spirit of the night, my job was too bring the moon up and down.

Uraza cocked her head. "Could we come? We've never seen you at work before."

"Please, please, please!" Cabaro added, bouncing up and down.

I hesitated. Sure raising the moon itself wasn't dangerous, the the journey to the top of the Sky Peak was just that. "Okay, but you must stay at the Rolly Rocks. Understood?" The two nodded. "Good. Follow me."

As I raced up the slope, the cubs at my heels, I couldn't help but feel like a mother duck and her little ducklings. My fur heated up and I glared into the shadows, challenging any creature that was watching to make any snide remark. I imagined the animals shrinking back under my hard golden gaze and smirked. The Rolly Rocks were just a bunch of boulders that had rolled down the hill from a landslide many centuries ago when even I was just a cub. Far above it was the Sky Peak, which was the highest point in all of Amaya. I left the cubs playing on the Rolly Rocks and made my way up the mountain.

The view was breathtaking and I never got completely used to it. The setting sun gave the ocean an almost lava sort of look. I could hear a faint roar as the Spirit of the day, Rohon the lion, brought it down completely. I took a deep breath and let out my own roar, a deep sound that echoed in the valley and beyond. I could tell the silver crescent moon was rising and I stopped, my tail wrapped around my paws. I would wait until the moon was completely over the crest before taking my charges back to our den. The shadows under the treetops brought feelings a mystery to my heart, but I kept my eyes focused ahead of me. Finally I went back down where they were waiting for me. "Time to go -"

Suddenly there was a flash of light. I stop, gazing up at it. A comet was streaking across the sky, bright red and yellow. A vision passed through my mind of fifteen strong animals standing together, chasing away the Spirits.

"Is everything alright, Auntie Braca?"

I blinked and looked down into the eyes of the cubs. "I'm fine. It's time for you two to go to bed."

* * *

_Many, many years later. . . ._

Battle had raged between the Spirits and their offspring. Those which were not part of it were Tellen, the son of the stone elk, Suka, the daughter of the frigid ice, Uraza, Essix, daughter of the sky falcon, and Jhi, the daughter of the willow tree.

I was stalking through he jungle, thinking about how Carabo could've turned on his own blood so quickly. _Did everything I did to help him mean absolutely nothing to him?_ I thought, my mind whirling down into despair. _Would he turn on his sister so quickly?_

"Hello, Auntie Braca."

I spun around at the new voice, claws out and muscles tense, but then relaxed as I realized it was only Uraza. She had grown into a gorgeous leopard like her mother, her amethyst colored eyes showing warmth. She was slightly bigger than me due to the power that us Spirits were losing. I pressed my muzzle to her shoulder. "Welcome, Uraza. How is Nilo doing?"

Uraza purred. "Fine." She frowned as she looked me over. "You're looking thin. Are you getting enough to eat?"

"I am. It's just with so many of the old Spirits gone, the rest of us are losing our strength." I paused, scavenging the air. "Do you smell that?"

Before Uraza could answer, a golden pelt bowled me over. Sharp claws dug into my shoulders and pushed me down. Cabaro. I heard something unintelligible and raw agony sliced through my throat. I gasped and tried in vain to crawl away, but my strength was quickly sapped away. Darkness was pressing on me everywhere and the noise around me faded. _Is this death? I don't think it's too bad._

"Braca, can you hear me? Stay with me. I still have much to learn."

I opened one of my eyes ever so slightly. In my fuzzy mind I noted Cabaro was gone. "You will do fine. Farewell, my little queen. We will meet again." My eyes drifted shut again, never to open again.

* * *

Peacefulness. That is the one word that can describe the Void. I didn't want to think there, as it would break the tranquility all around. Eventually the darkness was broken by a light, not too bright and not dim. It forced conscious bought back to me and I gasped for the first time in millennium as I was sucked into the light.

My paws landed on stone, not unlike the . . . what was it called? I don't remember much before the Void except for purple eyes. I looked up at a girl with bright red, unruly hair kept back and eyes as blue as the sky above. My sensitive eyesight picked up a faint scar above her eye and I wondered briefly where that came from. I shrugged and stepped forward. _This is where I belong._

* * *

**Fun facts about Braca:**

**The only Spirit so far who has become a spirit animal.**

**Due to being a Spirit at one point, she is more docile/knowing toward Irena.**


End file.
